


One Call Away

by PimpedOutGreenEars



Series: I Will Keep Calling You to See [1]
Category: Battle Royale (Manga), Battle Royale - All Media Types, Battle Royale - Takami Koushun
Genre: F/M, have some fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26245351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PimpedOutGreenEars/pseuds/PimpedOutGreenEars
Summary: Izumi accidentally calls Mitsuru on the walk home. It's a good thing.
Relationships: Kanai Izumi/Numai Mitsuru
Series: I Will Keep Calling You to See [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066613
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	One Call Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [keitaiijima](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keitaiijima/gifts).



> Back at it with some Mitsuumi! Note, in this story Mitsuru stole himself a cellphone because he deserves it :)

Izumi had not expected it to be dark when she left her piano teacher’s house.

When she’d told her father that she wouldn’t need a driver to pick her up, she’d been thinking that the weather was nice, and it wasn’t too far, and she’d be done well before dark.

But here she was, standing on the sidewalk outside of her piano teacher’s home, with only a streetlamp to provide any illumination. It was creepy. The empty sidewalks didn’t help. It wouldn’t feel so bad if there were people walking around.

But it was just her, standing outside under a streetlamp.

She looked toward her piano teacher’s house. She wondered if she might give her a ride home.

But then she looked down at the ground guiltily. It was her own fault that she’d stayed late. It had been her who really wanted to perfect the piece they were working on. She had been _so_ close and hadn’t wanted to stop. It was so nice of Mrs. Nakamura to keep working with her. She must have stayed an extra hour, at least.

She couldn’t possibly trouble her by asking.

Knowing that, Izumi took a deep breath and started walking.

She knew realistically she could just call her father and ask him to send someone. Her cellphone was inside the purse she had hanging across her shoulder.

But her father was overprotective, and if she called now, he probably wouldn’t ever let her walk to piano practice again.

No, she couldn’t call him.

But she could call _someone_.

Izumi didn’t know anyone else who had a car and could drive her, but she did have friends who would stay on the phone with her as she walked. That would at least calm her nerves.

Izumi stopped walking once she reached the next streetlight. With shaking hands, she dug her cellphone out of her purse. She flipped it open before doing a quick look around of the area. There was still no one around, and that still made her nervous.

She flipped open her phone and then opened her contacts, scrolling through them as she debated who to call. She talked to Chisato on the phone the most, but she thought she would definitely feed into her anxiety, being a little skittish herself. She considered calling Noriko, but around this time she’d probably be entertaining her little brother. She thought Satomi, Haruka, and even Yukie might chastise her, either for being scared or for not calling for a ride home right away; she wasn’t sure which they would think. She didn’t know if her being scared was her being silly or if it was warranted.

Yuka was really the only option. No matter what she thought about the situation, she’d make sure to keep Izumi laughing. She always did when Izumi was worrying about something. And laughing usually helped take her mind off of things.

So, with shaking fingers, she picked out Yuka’s name and called it.

The phone rang six times before a guy’s voice answered in a whispered, “Kanai?”

It took Izumi a second before she realized that the voice belonged to Mitsuru Numai. She’d put his contact information into her phone just a couple of weeks ago when they’d done a school project together. And his name was right under Yuka’s in her phone—her hands must have been shaking so badly that she’d picked his name instead.

“Oh! Numai! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to call you,” Izumi explained, as she turned in a circle under the streetlamp, checking to see if there was anyone else around. There still wasn’t.

“Oh… That’s okay,” he said.

“No, it’s late; I didn’t mean to bother you.” Izumi could feel herself blushing.

“You never bother me,” Mitsuru said quietly. Then, “Are you okay? You sound weird.”

Izumi’s eyes were still looking around her as she decided to start walking again. She could make it to the next streetlight at least before she hung up.

“I’m fine,” Izumi said, her pace a little faster than it usually was. “I meant to call Yuka, I’m walking home, and I got nervous—”

“Wait—By yourself?” Mitsuru asked, sounding concerned.

“Yes,” Izumi said, as she stopped under the light of another lamp.

“Where are you?” Mitsuru asked. She could hear music in the background now.

She told him her location before asking, “Why?” 

“Because it’s late, and you shouldn’t be walking around by yourself,” he said. In the background she could hear who she assumed was Sasagawa screaming, “Where the fuck are ya goin’?”

“I’m close by anyway. I can come meet ya,” Mitsuru said. The background of the call had turned quiet, like Mitsuru had left wherever he was.

“Oh! You don’t have to do that! Really, I’m—I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Izumi said, despite not feeling that way at all. She still felt like someone was going to sneak up on her any second.

“Nah, it ain’t a big deal. ‘Sides, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I didn’t know ya made it home safe,” Mitsuru said casually.

A part of Izumi felt bad that she’d dragged Mitsuru away from his friends to come help her just because she was too stubborn to call for a ride home. But a bigger part of her was relieved. She knew she would feel so much safer if she had Mitsuru with her. He was so nice (at least to girls). He would never let anything happen to her.

“You really don’t have to,” she said weakly, having decided she really did want him to come. “But thank you so much.”

Mitsuru laughed, a gruff yet pleasant sound. “Ya don’t have ta thank me.”

“I do though! You were with your friends, weren’t you?” Izumi asked.

Mitsuru scoffed. “What, did you hear Ryuhei screaming in the background?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say _screaming_ ,” Izumi said, not wanting to insult one of his friends.

Mitsuru laughed again. “Trust me, it was screaming. He don’t know how to talk quiet.”

Izumi laughed a little. “That sounds a little like Yuka,” she said, though Yuka would probably never be in the same league as Ryuhei Sasagawa.

“’S that why you were calling her?” Mitsuru asked.

For the first time since Numai had said he’d come get her she remembered why she was worried.

“Sort of,” She debated her next words carefully as she looked around herself again. “I know it’s silly but being out here this late makes me a little nervous. I thought Yuka could take my mind off of it.”

“That ain’t silly,” Mitsuru said, sounding almost offended. “It ain’t good to walk around alone at night, even in the good part of town. Creeps hang out here sometimes. Ya know, ta steal stuff, or just cause problems.”

Izumi felt her anxiety go up a little, but she also felt validated. Numai was telling her it was okay to be scared, and that made her feel a little better. She wasn’t just overreacting.

Still, that made her even more worried someone would show up out of the shadows around her. She felt a little like a sitting duck waiting under the streetlight. She edged out of the light, standing just a little outside of it. In the shadow people would be less likely to see her.

“So what were you doing near here?” Izumi asked to make conversation. She knew Numai didn’t live around here. But she thought Kiriyama did. Maybe they were hanging out there?

“Ya know, stealin’ stuff and causing problems,” Mitsuru joked.

Izumi laughed a little at that, even though she worried it might be true. She wasn’t completely sure of what Mitsuru and the rest of his friends did in their spare time, but she’d heard rumors, especially about Kiriyama. She really didn’t want Mitsuru to do anything that would get him in trouble.

“You aren’t going to get in any trouble are you?” Izumi asked.

“Nah,” Mitsuru reassured her. “When Zuki sneaks ya into a place ya don’t get caught. He’s real good at that kind of thing.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that. He’s so big,” Izumi said. Although big might not have been the right word. But he was tall with broad shoulders.

Mitsuru laughed. “Nah, he moves like a fu—like a cat. Real graceful, can get into anywhere.”

Izumi hummed as she tried to think of something to add to that, luckily, she didn’t have to.

“So what’s got ya out this late anyway?” Mitsuru asked.

“Oh,” Izumi hadn’t realized that she’d never told him. “I stayed over at piano practice.”

“I didn’t know you played,” Mitsuru said, sounding impressed. “I bet you’re good.”

“Oh, no, I’m all right,” she said, running one hand through her hair. “But I don’t really have the fingers for it.”

“What do ya mean? You got all ten of ‘em,” Mitsuru said, sounding confused.

Izumi chuckled. “Yeah, but mine are kind of stubby. My teacher says it’s easer to play when you have longer fingers.” As she said it Izumi lifted her left hand and looked at it. Her nails were painted a light pink, but she didn’t concentrate on that. She just stretched out her fingers as though that would make them longer.

Mitsuru scoffed. “I’ve seen your hands. Your fingers ain’t stubby.”

Izumi smiled.

“And I don’t believe you’re only all right either,” Mitsuru said.

“I’m not _bad_ ,” Izumi tried to explain. “I can play some advanced pieces. And people at my father’s parties seem to enjoy it… I’m just not so great that you’d hear me and be blown away.”

“I bet you’re wrong,” Mitsuru said softly.

Izumi was about to speak when she saw a figure turn the corner ahead of her. She jumped at the suddenness of it and her hold on her phone slipped, causing her to drop it on the concrete sidewalk. She bent down to pick it up as quickly as possible, terrified that the figure coming toward her would be someone bad.

But when she stood up the figure yelled, “Kanai! Is that you?”

Izumi sighed in relief, placing her hand over her racing heart. It was Numai. “Y-yes!”

Mitsuru hurried over to her, closing his phone as he did so. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. I just dropped my phone,” she said. Then she admitted, “You coming around the corner startled me.”

“Shit—Sorry,” Mitsuru apologized for cursing. “And sorry for scaring ya, too. I shoulda told ya I was about here.”

Izumi smiled up at him, feeling safe for the first time since leaving her piano teacher’s house. “No, it’s okay! I’m just glad it was you.”

Mitsuru smiled back at her and she suddenly realized how weird it was to see him outside of school. But not in a bad way! It was nice. But it was also different. Instead of seeing him in his school uniform he had on street clothes, and his tank top was showing off muscular arms.

Izumi had to look at the ground as not to blush.

“Let’s get ya home,” Mitsuru said, still with that small smile on his face.

They began walking together and Izumi couldn’t believe how much better she felt having him with her. Even just talking to him had made her feel so much better.

“Thank you so much for this,” she said, once again feeling grateful.

“I told ya, ya don’t have ta thank me,” Mitsuru said, but he didn’t sound annoyed. “This is better than what I was doin’ anyway.”

Izumi looked down at the ground. She couldn’t imagine walking a scared girl home was better than what he’d been doing, but she didn’t argue.

Once they were together the walk home didn’t feel long enough. They talked a little more about Izumi’s latest piano piece (Izumi told him maybe she’d play for him sometime- which had been embarrassing, but his grin had been big and nice), and about how Dragonfly had given them a ‘B’ on the project they did together even though they both thought it was a ‘C’ at best. And then before Izumi knew it she was back on her street.

Mitsuru stopped just down the road from her house, and Izumi stopped with him, looking at him curiously.

Mitsuru looked a little uncomfortable. “I figure your dad wouldn’t wanna see some punk like me walkin’ ya home.”

Izumi frowned. “You aren’t some punk,” she said softly. And she meant it. He’d come to her rescue tonight.

But Mitsuru wasn’t entirely wrong. If her father saw her walking home with a random boy, he probably would be concerned. Even if that boy had never been anything but a perfect gentleman to her.

“It’s okay,” Mitsuru said, and she wasn’t sure if he could tell what she was thinking. “You’re home safe. That’s what matters.”

She faced him and bowed a little. “I know you said I don’t have to thank you, but I really appreciate you talking to me and walking me home tonight. I felt so safe with you,” Izumi said. She immediately felt her face burn and was thankful they were standing in the dark.

Mitsuru smiled at her. “Nah, I’d talk ta ya anytime.”

Izumi’s face only got redder. “A-anyway! I should get inside. Please get home safe!” She talked louder than she needed too, but she suddenly felt so nervous. Like this was the walk home from a date and she wasn’t sure what to do.

Of course, it wasn’t a date! That would be silly! He’d just been being nice.

“Don’t go worrying about me,” Mitsuru said, not sounding like it bothered him at all. “Have a goodnight, Kanai.”

“Y-you too!” Izumi said before turning face and practically running to her house. But before she made it she turned around and, in what could only be described as the bravest thing she’d ever done, said, “You should text me when you make it back safe!”

Oh, stupid, stupid, stupid.

“O-okay!” Mitsuru said, looking surprised.

Oh, Izumi burned as she waved goodbye, then quickly ran to her front door. Why was she so embarrassing?

She would ask herself that for what felt like forever until her phone pinged to signal that she had a new text message. She opened it nervously.

_Made it back 2 the guys. See u at school :)_

Izumi had never felt so much relief at seeing a smiley face.

She texted back, _See you then! :)_

She fell asleep with her phone in her hand and a smile on her face.


End file.
